Written in retrospect due to extreme fatigue, altitude sickness, and busy socialising with my new girlfriends. Yesterday We made it to Gorak Shep, the highest elevation we will sleep in (5180m) and from where we go to Everest Base Camp (EBC) and Kala Pattar. Kala Pattar is really where it's at--a small summit (5550m) and where we get panoramic views of the Himalayas, Everest being only one of dozens of massive peaks. The majority of tour groups arrive to Gorak...

An amazing thing happened on our hike today. On the way to Lobuche (last stop before EBC) we passed an area with several memorials dedicated to those who have died on the trek. I was shocked when I recognised one of the names on a memorial. Trevor Stokol, a guy I went to high school in Idaho with. I didn't know him well as he graduated only a few months after I arrived. But I knew of him really well as his parents were close to mine (he was also from Texas). H...

Well you never know who you're going to come across up here. The other night we were eating dinner in the tea house, huddled together, me slurping my tomato soup, hands cradling the bowl, trying to keep warm, when I noticed the girl across the room looking at me. I smiled and paid no attention until she came upon us and said "I know this sounds weird but, are you one of the doctors at Wollongong Hospital?". Turns out she's a paramedic and recognised me from the...

Well you never know who you're going to come across up here. The other night we were eating dinner in the tea house, huddled together, me slurping my tomato soup, hands cradling the bowl, trying to keep warm, when I noticed the girl across the room looking at me. I smiled and paid no attention until she came upon us and said "I know this sounds weird but, are you one of the doctors at Wollongong Hospital?". Turns out she's a paramedic and recognised me from the...

Learn to expect the unexpected. Things don't always work out as planned. You can't always get what you want. Man makes plans, God laughs...etc etc. This is what happened today. After a leisurely morning we set off for what was meant to be a 3 hour hike. Most tour groups ascend from where we were, in Tengboche, to Dengboche in one day, a 6-7 hour hike and, most importantly, an ascent of 650m (3800m to 4450m). This is quick, unideal, and often when Trekkers feel...